JH-IIRU Team Members Participate in International Road Safety Conference in Lipetsk, Russian Federation

In July, the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) team members, Senior Technical Advisor, David Bishai, and Research Program Coordinator, Ekaterina Slyunkina, attended the International Conference on Road Safety in 10 Countries that was held in Lipetsk, Russian Federation.

While at the two-day conference, which was organized by the Lipetsk government, JH-IIRU presented an assessment of the first two years of the RS-10 project in the Russian Federation. Team members discussed the successes and challenges of implementation in the intervention sites of Lipetskaya and Ivanovskaya Oblast, as well as opportunities for the future to enable both regions to achieve greater results and to bring success to the RS-10 project in Russian Federation.  For example, conference participants discussed the need to expand and intensify collaborations with consortium partners and between key stakeholders and the desire to engage various federal and regional departments in road safety measures, as well as the possibility of declaring 2013 a “Road Safety Year.”

The conference provided an excellent opportunity to enhance collaboration between JH-IIRU and other RS-10 consortium partners as well as key stakeholders at the central and regional level.

As a result of the conference, the Lipetsk government issued a resolution to endorse mutual collaboration in order to overcome challenges of RS-10 project and reduce road traffic fatalites and injuries in the region. The resolution also calls on federal departments involved in road safety activities to improve the enforcement and surveillance at the national level.  Additionally, conference participants called for discussions with the regional departments involved in road safety activities to develop and implement additional activities that will be eventually linked to the planned political and budgetary initiatives, to expand and intensify collaboration with consortium partners, to use the international experience of other countries, and to a develop a complex and systematic approach to the road safety culture on Lipetsk roads through by  establishing a special fund that will ensure various federal and regional departments will be engaged in road safety initiatives.

To see examples of media coverage in the Russian Federation of the conference, follow these links:
http://www.uao-lipetsk.ru/news/novosti/2012-07-27/362.htm
http://www.lipetsktime.ru/news/2012-07-26/18011.htm

For additional information on the RS-10 Project, click here, or contact us at IIRU@jhsph.edu